This sounds really interesting… I might look into this for my chrimbo fairs. I don’t do many fairs anymore but for such little commission it might be worth trying at the ones I do attend. How long do the vouchers last?
Hmm this sounds interesting. Hope you don’t mind me jumping in on your thread Darren. 
I’ve never thought of using one of these before as to be honest I assumed the initial outlay would be expensive. I’ve just had a quick look on the izettle website and you can get the plug in one for free.
Can I just ask existing users a few questions? At the moment I barely do any craft fairs- though this is something I would like to do more of- and as the average cost of my prints is £45 I think something like this would be advantageous. So- my question is, even if I only use it for the moment say 3/4 times a year- it can just sit in a drawer and not cost me a penny until I use it? Is there a period of time that passes whereby they close your account?
Also- has anyone come across many customers unwilling to use it? Maybe because they haven’t heard of it and as you’re not strictly a shop they maybe feel untrusting towards it? I wouldn’t want to spend half my time explaining about the machine and it’s security rather than my actual products.
And lastly- it says on the website for businesses not individuals. I am registered with HMRC as self employed (while I also have another job) therefore my business is registered though just in my name- not a business name for example- e.g all cheques would be payable to me, not Curious Seagull. Would this be a problem when registering?
Thank you helpful people!! And sorry for all the questions! Just to be honest I didn’t find the website particularly helpful and don’t want to trust the comments of users on their site- they’re not going to pick ones from people who had problems after all.
Thank you! 
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I only really do fairs in the run up to Christmas so the rest of the year my card reader sits in a drawer. They do occasionally send me sad little surveys wondering why I haven’t used it in a while, if I fill them in there is a box for ‘my business is seasonal’ which I tick just to reassure myself more than anything else! But I’m quite sure loads of people only use them once in a blue moon.
You can be - and are - a one person business. I don’t remember having to answer any awkward questions. You do need to give them your bank account details obviously, so they can pay you! My account is not a ‘business’ account (although it is separate from my day-to-day one) but that was no problem.
I’ve never come across anyone reluctant to use one, mostly they are amazed at what technology is available these days! You can e-mail a receipt to your buyer and most people are happy with that although entering the e-mail address can be a little fiddly. and of course you can handwrite your own receipt. There are receipt printers available to buy to go with it and I would love one of those but they are so expensive, I really can’t justify it right now!
I’ll just leave my referral code here too in case anyone fancies using it, if you use the card reader within 30 days of signing up via the link we both get a £10 voucher towards the fees, which believe me lasts for ages!
https://www.izettle.com/d/UWWBL4
The vouchers last until the value is used up (I believe) but you need to sign up via one of the referral links and use the machine within 30 days of it arriving so if you aren’t going to use it until november don’t sign up for it just yet.
Sasha
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Never had any problems with my card reader “sitting in a drawer” except once I took it out and it didn’t link up but it turned out to be because I hadn’t updated the izettle app so it was soon going again. On the izettle website there are a couple of A4 posters you can print out, one saying “we take cards” and one explaining izettle and its security. I have laminated them both and put them on my table to make it look “official” and I’ve never had anyone query using it.
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I opted for the Paypal Here one as I have a paypal business account , the set-up was instant and the payments are instant too (I didn’t want the extra expense of a business bank account just for card payments) People recognise the paypal logo instantly (they give you a little sign to put on your stall) and I have never had anyone question it.
I’ll back up Helen’s comments - I use mine sporadically through out the year, it has been sat on my desk unused for the last 3 months, they haven’t closed my account, haven’t charged me anything and occasionally send me surveys asking why I don’t use it more and I just tick the my business is seasonal option. Occasionally it needs charging and the app updating on my phone but that is it.
Of the hundred or so transactions I’ve done on it I’ve only ever been asked if it was secure once and when I said yes (without explaining how) they were more than happy to use it. I’ve never had anyone refuse to use it. Really easy for people to use - I just hand over the little black box and say card goes in the bottom and follow the instructions on the screen (and when someone put a german card in it the instructions came up in german).
I’m a self employed business of one registered in my name so I don’t see that as being an issue.
Sasha
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BTW I get the money paid into my personal account too 
Like Sasha, I have the bluetooth one - it is fab!
Really helpful! Thank you all for the info and advice.
I don’t have a business bank account- was told by several business advisors that I didn’t need one- the banks just like us to think we do so they get more £- and I think if you’re turning over a certain amount you may need one but I’m certainly not close enough to that amount.
So I just have a seperate personal account for all my PayPal/payments etc to go into- is this ok for registering with izettle or does it need to be a business acc?
Last question I promise! (Maybe!)
Personal account is fine. I don’t have a business account and I have 2 businesses, one I’ve had for 15 years! I think its only if you take lots of cheques and card payments that they start to get a bit uppitty. iZettle don’t require a business account.
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That’s exactly what I have and it was fine.
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Great. Thanks folks!! Really appreciate it! Think I may look into one of these then!
Heres a useful comparison guide for mobile point of sale device.
Smarttrade is very interesting in that you don’t even need to pay up for a reader.
As a seller I’d be concerned with using any device that isn’t chip and pin (such as the smarttrade which looks like it is just an app) in terms of fraud. With chip and pin card readers the liability is with the card owner if it is used fraudulently not with you as a seller (since the pin number is required to get the transaction to go through it is up to them to prove to the card issuer how someone else got hold of their pin and card to prove it was fraud). With swipe and sign devices or apps the fraud liability is with you as the seller to check that the person using the card is the rightful owner.
Sasha
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Another provider to consider is Sum Up. It was recommended to me by a neighbouring stall holder last November when I was losing sales because people weren’t returning from a trip to the cash point. I hadn’t heard of them before but signed up and found it has really helped boost my craft fair takings since. They are European so perhaps not so well known but it’s a system designed for small shops to use so is well built and professional looking. The reader has full chip and pin facility and all my customers have commented on how clever it is and seem confident using it. It does require a smartphone but I imagine most do nowadays. They charge 1.95% and payment goes into your bank account quickly. I’ve seen offers on Facebook where the reader is now only £39. You only pay to buy the card reader and there are no monthly fees or commitments. I had one e-mail checking everything was okay when I hadn’t used it for quite a few months but this was a helpful sort of enquiry rather than them being annoyed it wasn’t used for a long period.
I believe there was an issue with the sum up card readers a few months ago when they updated the machine and made the old ones obsolete and unusable which was somewhat frustrating for those that had the old style readers.
I’ll back up what Roz has said about sumup - it occured late last November time when people were doing Christmas fairs so really needed their card readers and there was minimal/ no warning that they were going to stop supporting the old style non chip and pin devices. (I had one of the old units and never recieved any emails about it becoming obsolete) There were a lot of people on this forum and other sites very confused about why their machines weren’t working and p**sed off about the customer service. They may have improved their customer service since then but it was enough to have put me off using them and thankfully I’d changed to iZettle by then so wasn’t affected by it.
Sasha
I’ve just switched my iZettle account from a private one to a business one. I’ve been meaning to do it for a while but was worried it might be a hassle - how wrong I was!
I emailed their helpdesk and they explained that I couldn’t have 2 accounts with the same email/bank details so I had to close the private account and re-register. Then I realised I had nearly £20 in unused vouchers on my account, so they offered to replace them with a new £20 voucher when I re-registered. It all went through in less than a day and just a few emails with a very helpful person at the other end.
I’m so impressed with their customer service, I can certainly recommend them.
What a great thread … I’ve been thinking about one of these machines for a while. Can I ask a silly question? Does the percentage charge just get taken off the money in your account or is it added to the amount the buyer pays?! I’m sure I know the answer, but better check!!
Also wondering if it is now working with iOS 9 now?
Thank you! x